By IANS
Kolkata : West Bengal’s Nandigram remained on the edge Thursday amid the recovery of a huge haul of ammunition and reports of intimidation of villagers by Marxist cadres even as a National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) team visited the trouble-torn area to assess the situation.
“The state police have recovered about 410 rounds of ammunition from Sonachura area in Nandigram. The CRPF (Central Reserve Police Force) personnel also seized 75 detonators and 25 kg of explosive materials from another place,” West Bengal Inspector General of Police Raj Kanojia told IANS.
He said the CRPF and police had recovered 200 more bullets and four improvised long-range rifles from another area in Nandigram.
A six-member NHRC team visited Nandigram in East Midnapore, 150 km from here, to study the situation there and suggest remedial measures.
The team headed by Senior Superintendent of Police S.P. Singh went around the violence-racked villages and talked to the affected people. Later, the team held a meeting with senior police and district officials.
However, reports of revenge attacks continued to pour in from several areas of the region.
“Many of our supporters have been abducted and beaten up by CPI-M (Communist Party of India-Marxist) men,” Bhumi Ucched Pratirodh Committee (BUPC) leader Abdus Samad told IANS.
“Only yesterday three of our supporters were beaten senseless. They have been admitted to hospital in a critical condition. Most people are still living in relief camps and they have nothing to eat,” he said.
Violence in Nandigram has claimed 34 lives since January, when the region flared up over land acquisition plans for a special economic zone (SEZ) to be set up in collaboration with Indonesia’s Salim Group.
The state scrapped the plans in the face of stiff resistance by villagers who declined to give their land for industry.
Since then a turf war between the CPI-M and the BUPC, backed by the main opposition Trinamool Congress, has broken out repeatedly.
The latest round of violence took place last week, rendering many homeless.
“Police and paramilitary forces are patrolling the streets of Nandigram. We are holding meetings with the district magistrate and other officials to bring normality in the area,” East Midnapore Superintendent Of Police S.S. Panda said.
“Peace will not return to Nandigram till those living in relief camps are able to return to their homes without any fear,” Panda said, adding that he was talking to panchayats and elders in the villages to restore confidence among the people.
While tension persisted in Nandigram, a section of Kolkata’s intellectuals and citizens took to the streets to express solidarity with the state government that has got flak for its alleged partisan attitude in tackling the violence.
The rally, in which writers, poets, filmmakers and others participated, came a day after tens of thousands of people led by film directors Mrinal Sen, Rituparna Ghosh and Aparna Sen protested against the government’s perceived role in the violence.
Ignoring stormy winds and a steady drizzle, a section of Left wing intellectuals hit the streets for peace in Nandigram.
Among those who took part in the march were magician P.C. Sorcar, painter Wasim Kapoor, poets Subodh Sarkar, filmmakers Tarun Majumdar and Tapan Sinha, actors Soumitra Chatterjee, Mithun Chakraborty, Biplab Chattopadhyay, Arindam Seal, Sobha Sen, Chinmoy Ray, former Olympian P.K. Banerjee and cricketer Debang Gandhi.